29 April 2008

A few weeks ago my friend and editor Leonardo Guerchmann was an extra on James Cameron's new movie Avatar being shot in Miramar. He pointed me to an interview about Cameron's style of shooting with the new 3D camera system, the new way of set design and blocking used to make the most out of the new technology. I was doubtful, having once endured the dubious pleasures of one of those black and white 3D movies that constantly has things sticking out or rushing towards the audience, plus the cardboard glasses are really uncomfortable.
But last week I read Cameron's fantastically informative and engaging interview in Variety so when Leo asked me if I wanted to go to U2-3D, a sort of test run for the Reading cinema's new digital 3D projector, I reluctantly agreed. I kind of like U2 - they are my generation after all - so all would not be lost if the technology turned out disappointing. How wrong I was: turns out Bono I'd even more of a dick than I thought, but the concert looked AMAZING. Everything was super-sharp and there was so much going on in the picture that I felt my visual cortex had been scrambled. There were beautiful layers of graphics overlaying the action, crowds stretching into space and shafts of stage lighting like solid pillars of smoke. Even the title sequence was eye-popping. Suddenly a simple text scroll becomes filled with possibilities. I can't wait to make films like this. It's how stories should play out on screen, making 35mm flat and boring like a tired watercolour. The possibility for drama, from audience immersion to intense intimacy are mind-boggling.
See more about the camera system Cameron used in Avatar here:

14 April 2008

I have found myself with an ongoing commitment at Infratil, the company whose annual Investor day I filmed a few weeks ago. A whole raft of ideas followed, and the first promo piece is up on YouTube and the Infratil website. The next step is for the individual presenters to find their highlights from the hour-long presentations, so they can be added to the website. It’s a learning process for me and the company to find how material can be re-purposed and what the process of generating video web content involves. There is a certain involvement from the company to clarify their message, the graphic designer to generate intros, lower thirds and other graphic material to give a corporate image, and the editor to pull this together. The trick seems to be to work in batches, since every iteration creates more work and another draft that needs to be uploaded, viewed, commented and changed.

What's this all about?

Sometimes I make hit and run documentaries, sometimes I fix Macs, sometimes I write or translate. I have been known to live in a variety of countries. None of this makes me an expert, but these are the things I like to talk about here. Although most of it is pretty random.